But now there is hope for the achy knees, sore backs, and tight schedules of strawberry growers. Wool mulch, cleverly named Woolch™, is marketed by the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers Association… The results of 10 years of trials have shown overwhelming success of Woolch™ in reducing weeds in strawberry plots.

“Buying and using a domestic product has become a lot more important to people,” Roberts says. “And that’s a huge boon to wool producers… Outdoor apparel manufacturers are helping to revive this once dying industry”

Humans began using wool about 10,000 years ago, first by collecting the fibers shed by wild sheep. After sheep were domesticated, they were selected to produce larger quantities of wool that did not shed. The lack of shedding meant that all the wool could be harvested at the same time. It also meant that sheep had to be shorn.

“We are introducing a very environmentally friendly and sustainable fiber to the combat uniform system… We were in the heat of summer here… The uniforms were lighter weight and breathed better. Soldiers were very happy with the material.”

“…we never sell any fleeces on shearing day. There is never time that day to thoroughly skirt a fleece, and if you sell it to someone and they take it home and show someone else, that unskirted fleece is going to represent your farm to the public.”

In the fourteen years since its beginning, Cooke Creek Sheep Company has built both a local and online reputation and presence that brings profits from all aspects of sheep: Raw fleeces, breeding stock, pelts, locker lambs, milled fiber products… even hay.